Baptism

Since our church does not have a baptistery at the church the baptisms take place elsewhere. Some have been at other churches, some at people’s homes in their pools, and some at water parks! The baptisms for the month of August were at the water park. The church had the entire water park rented out and for two fun hours everyone got to play in the park.

When time for the baptisms, the waves were turned off at the wave pool and people sat all around in the chairs and in the shallow ends of the pool. Luke and I were sitting there in the water and he started to ask questions about the baptisms, which I LOVED. After a few minutes, he turned around and said he wanted to be baptized. I told him that he would not be done today, but that one day when the time was right, he could. This was not the answer he wanted, so he kept asking again every once in a while if he could PLEASE be baptized today.

Meanwhile, the baptisms had started…. And the next thing I know, Luke turns around and says (and not so quietly either), well fine, I will just baptize myself. And then proceeds (while wearing a life jacket I might add) to toss his head back and lean himself back into the water. I quickly caught his little back before he had a chance to get all the way back in the water. I then leaned over and said, this is not how it is done and you will not baptize yourself.

Now, inside, I was laughing hysterically and even smiled once he was not looking. That was just plain funny and was oh so cute.

Let the little children come to me….Matthew 19:14

Emergency Health/Clinic Information Form

Luke brought home an Emergency Health/Clinic Information Form and told me that I needed to fill it out so that if he got sick, the nurse would know what to do. So, when we got home, I sat down and started filling out the form.

Luke comes up and asks me what the form says. I explain that we need to write down the name of his doctor and her phone number. Then I showed him the section that asks about medical conditions. He asked what a medical condition was and I told him that sometimes people have problems with their heart, and that is a medical condition. (I know, short answer, but it is was all I could come up with).

Then came the section for allergies and here is how that went:

Luke: What are allergies?

Me: Well, some people have food allergies. Like if they eat a certain food, it will make them very sick.

Luke: I have that!

Me: No, you don’t.

Luke: Yes, I do! Remember that time you made me eat those noodles that I didn’t like?? They made me sick, put it on the paper.

I could not think of one reason why the school nurse needs to know why my son hates my cooking, so I left that one blank.

Today was a great day…if you are a five year old boy

But if you are his mom, it was an emotional roller coaster. When he was eight weeks old and I dropped him off at Ms. Marlo’s house, I cried. When we dropped him off at prep school, I cried. So it was not really a surprise that I cried when we dropped him off at elementary school for his first day of kindergarten. But, here is the difference -- I called Marlo a bunch on that first day (and many days after), and she was so sweet and told me Luke was okay and the happenings of the day. When he went to prep school, we had a friend who worked there and her daughter was in Luke’s class, so she checked on him. I have no allies at elementary school!!

Joshua and I walked to Luke to school and Luke was excited. He was such a big boy as he located his seat and started playing with his play-doh. No tears at all from him. He just started playing. We told him bye and to have a great day. I was so very proud of him. He truly is so excited about going to school and learning new things and making new friends. No tears from me… at this point. But, as Joshua and I walked home, I started to tear up. Where has the time gone? Luke is growing up so quickly.

I could not wait to go and pick Luke up and find out all about his day. He told us about reading books, going to music, playing in the gym, eating lunch, and playing outside on the cool playground (where he did the swings by himself!). He was also full of instructions for us: we need to read his folder EVERDAY, sign it, and he is to return the folder every day. He told us this is VERY important! He made a book today that he was very proud of and did a worksheet. However, he was a little disappointed that he did not get to paint. He said that he guessed they would have to learn things for the next few weeks, but maybe then he could paint. I love it!

He did have homework. Every day he is to read a book and tonight’s selection was Hop on Pop. I love listening to him read and watching him as he sounds out the words.

The first day went great! And we are looking forward to the school year and all that Luke will learn.

And a thank you to all those who took the time to text, email, and call today. Luke was so happy that people would call to see how his day went and I am so thankful that people asked about me as well. I am touched that so many people prayed for us on this day. God is good, Luke had a great first day of school, and his parents lived to tell about it.

And just like that, it's over

Today when I got to Luke’s school to pick him up, they told me he was moved over to the other building. I gulped hard, smiled, and said okay. She told me how they moved some of the kids to the other building to go ahead and transition them. She went on to say how he had a great time and told me a little more of his day. As I drove the short distance to the other building, I was almost in tears. I have no problem with the simple fact that he is in another building, but the idea that Pre-K is officially over? Yes, I have a hard time with that. I am a girl who needs to prepare herself for things!

I must have had an odd look on my face when the Luke got in the car because the lady said, “I bet it was a shocker to you that Luke was moved.” Yes, I thought, it was…but, I just said, oh, that is okay and smiled. She too told me what a wonderful time Luke had in the new class. As we pulled off, Luke happily told me about his new class and what he did during the day. Then, he got quiet for a minute and said, “But Mommy, will I ever get to go back and visit Mrs. Lori? And can I talk to her on the computer?” And then I could not hold back the tears anymore. I told him yes, he could certainly talk to her on the computer and we would visit her. Then I let my tears flow. Pre-K was over. Just like that.

When we got home, he said he had lots of stuff in his backpack, and then he unloaded Pre-K right then and there in the living room. He brought home his art work, his swim trunks, and his cubbie label. Ugh, I wanted to cry again, but held it together since he could see my face. I just gave him a hug and told him I loved him.

Growing up myself was hard enough at times. Watching my little boy grow up is even harder.

Blueberries 'n Cream

While Luke and I were at the bookstore one day I heard him say, “Hey Mommy, there is a book that is nothing but cupcakes!!” He had found a Martha Stewart cookbook of nothing but cupcakes. He then said, “How did they know we were doing cupcakes?? We have to buy this book!!” It is such a beautiful cookbook and full of cupcakes I knew we would be able to bake so we bought it.
After looking through the entire book we started talking about what we should make first. Of course, he wanted to make the chocolate chip cookie cupcakes and I was thinking of making the carrot cake ones. However, after thinking more about it, I decided we would make blueberries and cream before the blueberries were five dollars a pint. Luke said that was okay with him as blueberries were his favorite berry.
When we got home tonight we started making our cupcakes and thank you Aunt Martha because they are DELICIOUS!!


batter and milk....luke could not wait for the cupcakes to cook.

i over whipped the whipped cream....oh well, it may not be pretty, but it is yummy!

blueberry 'n cream yummy goodness.

i love how you can see the blueberries inside of the cake.

view from the top.

Recycling

The other day Luke came up to me and asked, “Momma, can we start recycling the toilet paper?” To which I quickly replied, “No way, that is gross!! We flush all the toilet paper down the toilet.” Luke, “I mean the toilet paper ROLL. You know, the thing the toilet paper is on.” Okay sweetie pie, it is VERY important that you say all words that are needed when talking to Momma! That kid made me gag at the thought of it! He went on to say that he wanted to make a horn out of the roll. No problems there kido, I can handle that. Recycling used toilet paper, not so much. Love that boy to pieces. Never a dull moment!
Here is the fabulous recycled toilet paper roll.

Beep, Part Two

Okay, so as I sit here in the quiet of my home on Thursday evening, I actually find the events of last Saturday morning funny. They just were not funny then; however, I cannot think of much that is funny at 5am on a Saturday morning.

On Sunday afternoon, I walked into the kitchen to find Joshua putting a 9 volt battery in the smoke detector. Um, where did you find that, I asked? In this drawer, he says. So, I my head, I am thinking, then why in the world were you not shoving that little battery in the beepin’ detector yesterday morning? I love when I answer my own questions….because this man was suddenly woken up at 5am on a Saturday morning by his wife who was annoyed with the beep, and he was not thinking clearly. That is why. Remember, he thought that telling you it was the detector was enough to shut you up last night. So, I just smiled and said thank you.

Also, I just want to point out....who has a 9 volt battery randomly laying around their house? The Stewarts! That’s who! We are oh so very prepared. Too bad I did not know it. And a big thank you to whoever bought that little gem of a 9 volt…..hope it was me. ;-)

When relaying this story to my best friend, she one uped me. Now, normally I am annoyed by the one uppers of the world, but it is okay because her story is hilarious (and I love her). After I tell her of the ridiculous comedy show I found myself living in, she proceeds to tell me that she feels my pain. And ALL of her smoke detectors started beeping one night. Okay, she wins. This is already sounding way worse than my ordeal. I could not contain my laughter. Too funny! So, she and her husband (who are just as smart as me and mine I might add) proceed to rip them all out of the ceiling and toss them into the garage. Problem: the garage echoes AND their bedroom wall backed up to the garage. She said it was even louder. The even more hilarious part: her husband then proceeds to smash them all in efforts to make the beeping stop. The picture of this is just too much for my head! It makes me laugh out loud again just thinking about it. Anyhow, she then goes on to say it is not cheap to replace all of your smoke detectors. Thanks girl -- note to self, do not let husband smash all beeping detectors, even if everything in you wants him to do it.